You don’t want to seem like a heavy-handed, micro-managing, power freak, but there are also dangers associated with giving too long of a leash. JIRA is an awesome tool. It’s fun to work with and you can understand how someone might get excited about the ability to create custom workflows and make their team more efficient with automation. The trouble is, all that customization can create a big mess for you to manage. Does your organization really need 70 different workflows, or could you manage the same processes with seven?

So, here’s the question: How can you give your non-tech teams the functionality of JSD, and the autonomy to design their own processes without creating a a spaghetti plate of custom fields, workflows and data schemes for you to manage?

We have the solution. Faster than an automated response, more powerful than a JIRA workflow, able to set SLAs in a single click - it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super Agent!

That’s right, we’ve created a new role. The combination of ProForma for JSD and a Super Agent means that any team in your organization can have a world class service management system without creating a headache for you.

How It Works

Let’s say three of your non-tech teams, HR, Marketing and Finance have decided they’re ready to convert from their traditional processes to a service desk model. What you need is one (or perhaps a couple depending on the size of your organization) person from each of those teams to be a Super Agent. They are not expected to know what a JIRA administrator knows, but they give you a core team, big enough to spread JIRA functionality throughout your organization, but small enough for you to train and keep an eye on.

Now you can create three new projects, let’s call them HR Service Desk, Marketing Service Desk and Finance Service Desk. Give your Super Agents permission to their respective projects and show them all the cool stuff JSD can do.

Not so fast! JSD is an awesome tool, but it was, after all, designed for tech teams. It could take ages to create all the custom fields you need for another unit, say HR. This is where ProForma comes in. We’ve created a library of customizable template forms for JIRA, designed for non-tech business teams. Send your Super Agents to the Template Library﻿ to select the templates that are right for their teams and follow the instructions here on how to install a template.

That’s it. Your teams are up and running! As their understanding of JSD increases, they’ll probably think of more and more ways to use it. Super Agents will help expand use while also giving you a mechanism for keeping things from getting carried away.

A Super Agent has the ability to…

Build their team's forms from scratch, just the way they want them

Install ProForma templates

Set automation rules

Define and set SLAs for their team

Define/assign queues

Create request types and add forms

Super Agents also have an additional role. Change is hard. Leaving behind “the way we’ve always done things” and adopting a service desk mentality is going to require an internal champion. The people who step forward to be Super Agents are likely to have some geek-tendencies. They will be excited by what JIRA can do and will be the first ones to see the possibilities for their team. Their curiosity, enthusiasm and willingness to learn will be your greatest asset in bringing the advantages of JSD to your wider organization.